Citing a rise in the number of children and families attempting to immigrate into the Southwestern U.S. illegally, the Obama administration says it will use new detention facilities to house the families.
The administration says it will boost enforcement efforts and speed up removal proceedings. And it will try to dispel a notion among some migrants that current U.S. policies will allow them to enter the country illegally.
That belief was mentioned in a recent Los Angeles Times story that cited an internal Border Patrol study.
After speaking with hundreds of migrants, officials wrote, "A high percentage of the subjects interviewed stated their family members in the U.S. urged them to travel immediately, because the United States government was only issuing immigration 'permisos' until the end of June 2014."
Earlier this week, reports of an influx of migrants from Central America led officials in Texas to launch a "surge" in enforcement to secure its border with Mexico.
Specifics about the White House's new plan – including the facilities' locations and the number of families allowed to enter the U.S. – aren't yet public. We'll update our reporting when that information is available.
From the AP:
"The Homeland Security Department did not immediately say how many families would be kept in the new immigration jails or where they will be located.
"The administration has released an unspecified number of such families into the U.S. in the past several months with instructions to report later to Immigration and Customs Enforcement offices, but it won't say how many it has released or how many subsequently appeared as ordered."